Federal cannabis policy is at a crossroads — with the DEA on track to knock marijuana down from the more restrictive Schedule I status to Schedule III. But some lawmakers in the U.S. House want to block the funding that would enable authorities to move cannabis out of the more tightly-controlled category, where it currently sits alongside heroin, LSD, and ecstasy.
And Beshear is personally urging the president to permit the federal reclassification, allowing easier access to medical marijuana — which Kentucky formally legalized in 2023 but has yet to begin selling.
Under federal rules, Schedule I drugs are those considered to have "no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse." Schedule III drugs are listed as having "moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence."
The proposed reclassification would put medical marijuana in the same category as Tylenol with codeine, ketamine, anabolic steroids, and testosterone.
Beshear said the reclassification process "should be allowed to play out," adding, "Americans deserve leadership that won't move the goal posts on them in the middle of the game."